Officials with the Cass County Health System say this week’s “Healthy U” program has been cancelled. The program will resume Thursday, May 16th. Please call 712-243-7405 with any questions about Healthy U. And, the Cass County Soil and Water Conservation District’s regular meeting schedule for Today, April 15th at 7:00 pm has been cancelled and rescheduled to Thursday, April 18th at 7:00 pm due to lack of quorum.

(Updated w/name correction) — The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports a large amount of Meth was seized following a traffic stop last Thursday in Cass County on Interstate 80, near the 70 mile marker. Authorities say the Cass County K9 was deployed and alerted to the odor of narcotics within the vehicle. Upon further investigation, 40-pounds of methamphetamine were found inside the vehicle. The driver, 26-year old Raymundo Yanez-Pacheco, of Laguna Hills, CA, was taken into custody and released to Drug Enforcement Agency.

Separately, 37-year old Kristina Marie Namanny, of Harlan, was arrested Thursday in Cass County, on a charge of Providing False ID to Law Enforcement. Namanny was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on her own recognizance. And, on April 8th, Cass County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 48-year old Mathew Clay Mitchell, of Anita, on a charge of Disorderly Conduct (Simple). Mitchell was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance.

(DES MOINES) –The Iowa Finance Authority today (Monday) announced a new down payment assistance program for first-time and repeat home buyers. The program offers a 0% loan for up to five percent of the sale price or $5,000, whichever is less and is repayable upon refinance or sale of the home. The new $5,000 second loan program requires no monthly payments and must be used in conjunction with one of the Iowa Finance Authority’s mortgage programs. Eligible home buyers may have a household income of up to $121,800 and may purchase a home for up to $331,000.

The Iowa Finance Authority also offers additional home buyer assistance programs, including a $2,500 nonrepayable down payment assistance grant as well as a mortgage credit certificate, which may provide up to a $2,000 federal tax credit every year for the life of the mortgage. Home buyers can apply for the homeownership programs by contacting one of more than 400 participating lenders throughout the state. Full program details and a listing of lenders offering the programs are available at IowaFinanceAuthority.gov.

The Iowa Finance Authority has assisted nearly 55,000 homeowners realize their dream of homeownership to date.

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds has issued an executive order that creates a 15-member Flood Recovery Advisory Board. She’ll be the board’s chairwoman, guiding the response to last month’s flooding. “This recovery will be difficult and it will be complex and it will require significant coordination at the local, state and federal levels,” Reynolds said during a news conference late this (Monday) morning in her statehouse office.

The governor is also asking legislators to set aside 25-million dollars in state funds to finance home-building tax credits and provide the local matching funds that will be required to quality for some federal disaster aid.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a 17-year-old who was fatally shot in Des Moines. Officers were sent to a north Des Moines neighborhood around 8:40 p.m. Sunday to check on gunshots reported by several people. A few minutes later officers learned that a shooting victim believed to be from that neighborhood had been taken by private vehicle to MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center.

Police say the boy has since died. He’s been identified as Donzell Martin. Police say it’s the city’s third homicide of the year. No arrests have been reported.

(Radio Iowa) — A student at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City has died in an accident in Arkansas. Newton County Arkansas Sheriff Glenn Wheeler says 20-year-old Andrea Norton died after she accidentally fell Saturday from a rock formation near Jasper, about 101 miles northwest of Little Rock. Norton is from Hot Springs, South Dakota and was a member of the Briar Cliff volleyball team.

University President Rachelle Karstens posted a message asking for prayers for Norton, her family and students struggling with the loss of their friend, classmate and teammate. Sheriff Wheeler says Norton was with a group of students from Sioux City, and was reportedly re-positioning herself for a photo when she fell about 100 feet off the Hawksbill Crag. The area is a popular hiking destination within the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest.

Wheeler says the crag is widely considered one of Arkansas’ most-photographed hiking areas, and several people have died in falls there in recent year

The Iowa Department of Public Health reports over the weekend, through testing from the State Hygienic Lab, a Northeastern Iowan was confirmed to be infected with measles. The individual was unvaccinated and recently returned from Israel, where measles transmission is occurring. The individual has cooperated with public health officials. Public health officials are following up with potentially exposed persons to ensure they are vaccinated against measles; however, at this time there is no indication there is any threat to the public.

This is the first case of measles in Iowa since 2011, and serves as a reminder for all Iowans to ensure their vaccinations are up-to-date. Vaccines prevent diseases and save lives.

(Radio Iowa) — A key senator says it appears there is “one viable option” in the legislature for changing Iowa’s medical marijuana law this year. The Iowa House has approved a measure that changes the calculation of the cap or limit on the amount of the chemical T-H-C that’s allow in cannabis products sold in Iowa. Senate President Charles Schneider says it makes sense to measure dosages in milligrams rather than a percentage, because that’s how other medications are measured.  “When you take an Advil, the label tells you how many milligrams of ibuprofen are in that Advil,” Schneider said. “What switching this cap from a percentage to a milligram-based cap would do is more fully inform the consumer exactly what they’re putting into their bodies.”

States have been moving to expand access to cannabis products as treatment for medical conditions — and a few allow marijuana for recreational use — but it is still classified as an illegal drug under FEDERAL law. Schneider says ideally, he’d like it to be treated like any other medication.  “That, I hope, we can get to at some point, but the federal government hasn’t acted,” Schneider says. “We hear a clear outcry from our own constituents who want access to this for the different conditions that they themselves or their family members have and at the end of the day, we have to be responsive to our constituents and that’s what we’ve done with the law that we have on the books now.”

The bill that’s passed the House to change dosage measurements is eligible for debate in the Iowa Senate.  Representative John Forbes, a Democrat from Urbandale, is a pharmacist who voted for the bill.  “Gives more dosing options now for people who go to the medical dispensaries and can then work with their physician when they get the recommendation letter and then work with the people in the dispensary, to make sure they make the best recommendation on dosing for them,” Forbes says.

Iowans who’ve been told they only have months to live would be able to get more potent dosages of medical marijuana if the bill becomes law. The two legislators made their comments during a weekend appearance on the “Iowa Press” program on Iowa Public Television.